Here at ScreenCraft we receive THOUSANDS of screenplay submissions for our contests and one thing always rings true for the ones that get past our readers and judges - the first ten pages are AWESOME. Check out this video from our friends over at The Script Lab about the importance of the opening of your screenplay.

One thing every writer that's trying to break into the business needs to remember is that the people you're trying to get to love your script aren't only the agents and managers; they're the assistants.

Your first ten pages are the gateway to Hollywood and you need to get the people reading invested so that they'll tell their bosses what an awesome read they had the night before.  Assistants usually check out 2-3 scripts per evening and 5-7 on the weekends. To stand out amongst the masses your first pages need to WOW them and make them so excited to tell their bosses that they send an email with your PDF attached as soon as they start page 11.

We're not just talking proof of concept here but also endearing us to the characters and stakes at hand. Your voice has to pop off the page and so does the script's intentions.

Think of your favorite movie openings - which ones really grab you, tell you what the movie will be about, show incredible promise?

Your openings need to be powerful, funny, and compelling. They need to define the core characters, set up their journeys, and make us care. The truth of Tinseltown is that unless you can convince someone to keep reading, they probably won't. The noisier your hook, the more probability you have of people wanting to keep going, to keep reading, and to contact you.

When we read "FADE IN:" we want to be entertained. We desperately want to be taken on a journey we care about. No assistant, reader, agent, or manager has ever picked up a script and hoped it was bad; don't give them a reason to think it will be.

How do your first ten pages excite the reader? What do we learn about your characters? The stakes? The world?